Brockton man charged in wrong-way, head-on crash near mall

Police say the man was driving south on the northbound side of divided Reynolds Memorial Highway.

Cody Shepard The Enterprise @cshepard_ENT

BROCKTON – A 62-year-old man was charged with driving negligently after police say he drove the wrong way on a busy street and crashed head-on into another vehicle Thursday night.

Officers responded to Reynolds Memorial Highway near Westgate Drive about 9:43 p.m. after receiving a report that a car was driving the wrong way on the street. They then received calls reporting a crash in the area.

Police found two vehicles – a Toyota Avalon and Subaru Impreza – had collided head-on in the northbound lane about 500 feet from the intersection with Westgate Drive.

“The first operator said he was traveling in the northbound lane when he saw headlights coming toward him,” said police Detective Sgt. Michael Dennehy. “The vehicle was in the wrong lane and struck his vehicle.”

That driver, a 27-year-old Brockton man, and the man going the wrong way, identified by police as Joseph Connors, were both taken by ambulance to Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton with what were believed to be non-life-threatening injuries.

Connors initially told police he was driving south in the correct lane, but having a hard time seeing the road.

“He then peeked out of the ambulance, saw the damage and said, ‘I guess I was in the wrong lane,’” Dennehy said.

Officers spoke to a witness who told police she “swerved to avoid a head-on collision” with Connors, who was driving south in the northbound lane, Dennehy said.

The north and southbound sides of Reynolds Memorial Highway, a four-lane road, are separated by a curb barrier.

Connors, 62, of 494 Copeland St., Brockton, was arrested and charged with negligent operation of a motor vehicle and a marked lanes violation. Police filed an immediate threat against him with the Registry of Motor Vehicles.

He will be summonsed to Brockton District Court at a later date.

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